NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - The University of New Haven softball team opened its 2015 home schedule on Friday afternoon with a doubleheader sweep against Georgian Court. The pair of non-conference contests were played at the softball field on the campus of Central Connecticut State. The Chargers took the opening game 10-2 in five innings with Nicole King (Front Royal, Va./Warren County) tossing the complete game and 10 strikeouts. Victoria Cabral (New Britain, Conn./Miss Porter's School / Hofstra) anchored the Blue and Gold in game two with 11 strikeouts and a shutout in a 3-0 victory.

New Haven moved to 2-4 overall after the two wins, while Georgian Court 1-13 with the losses.

GAME ONE
In game one, Erika Williams (Oneida, N.Y./Oneida) went 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored, while four others tallied multiple RBI. King went the distance with with 10 strikeouts, six walks, three hits and two earned runs. 

The Chargers wasted no time getting out in front, with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. Julie Devlin (Baldwin, N.Y./Northwood School) drove in a run with an infield single, while Tori Schiebe (Monroe, Conn./Masuk) drove in the second with another single. Gabby DeLeo (Philadelphia, Pa./St. Hubert Catholic) put down a ground out in the bottom of the second to score Courtney Reed (Lower Burrell, Pa./Burrell). With three more runs in the bottom of the fourth, New Haven held a 6-0 lead through four.

The Lions broke the shutout in the top of the fifth with two earned runs, but the game concluded in the bottom of the fifth with a four UNH runs. Kristine Liptack (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) and Cabral both drove in runs by earning a walk, while Devlin fielder's choice, RBI gave the Blue and Gold a 9-2 advantage. Schiebe would eventually record the RBI which concluded the game off a single to left field. Her hit loaded the bases, but an errant throw in the infield would score Cabral and put the Chargers ahead by eight runs after five innings.

GAME TWO
In game two, Jen Palase (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) went 2-for-2 with a run. Gabby DeLeo (Philadelphia, Pa./St. Hubert Catholic) and Julie Devlin (Baldwin, N.Y./Northwood School) scored runs, while Kristine Liptack (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) recorded the game's only RBI. Cabral added just two hits and six walks to her 11 strikeouts in the second game.

New Haven again put two on the board in the bottom of the first inning. DeLeo and Palase pull the double steal to score the first run, while a Liptack sacrifice fly gave the Chargers a two-run lead.

After leaving the bases loaded in the top of the first, Georgian Court left two more on base in the second. The game's only other run came in the bottom of the sixth with an unearned run scored by Devlin.

It was the Chargers first shutout of the season and the first since the regular season finale last year against Dominican.

New Haven returns to action on Sunday, March 15 when its hosts Southern New Hampshire at the CCSU Softball Field. The doubleheader will get underway at 12:00 p.m. in New Britain.